"Matthew 3:16. March 3, 2016. A new beginning anointed by Jesus. She said yes..." That's how Christian and American football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League Doug Baldwin Jr. announced his engagement Thursday to fiancée Tara Sabourin on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Fans continue today to send "God Bless" messages to the couple.
"She supports me on another level. She pushes me to reach for the stars and never settle," Baldwin recently tweeted.
One of Baldwin's fans, Dominic Wilkerson, responded on Facebook: "Ayyyye you caught her heart like you catch them paaaassssses."
Another fan on the Seahawks' Facebook page, Mary Tashjian, stated: "I love the words anointed by Jesus. He is our rock when we build our house. On rock it will be sturdy. Lucky how it matches the date and the year of wedding day."
Guided by faith, the 27-year-old athlete frequently posts about his faith and various Bible verses on his social media accounts. Through faith-based programs, he previously said he learned to transform negative feelings into a recognition of adversity as an opportunity for growth.
Baldwin has a video series on YouTube called "Fresh Files." In it, he answers questions from fans and talks about recent events in his life. He also talks to other NFL players, most of whom are fellow Seahawks, such as Russell Wilson and Sidney Rice, or Stanford University alumni, such as Andrew Luck, Richard Sherman and Coby Fleener.
Baldwin was raised in Gulf Breeze, Florida. He also participated in basketball and track and field in high school, in addition to football. In the Wild Card round of the 2015 postseason against the Minnesota Vikings, Baldwin registered five catches for 42 yards and the only touchdown scored in the entire game, giving the Seahawks the win 10-9.
Growing up, he said he developed a profound relationship with God that did not follow the scriptures of any particular religion but provided him with a guiding light nonetheless. "The more I learned about the Bible, the more it seemed to me like your specific religion or denomination is not nearly as important as just having a relationship with God, whatever you might call that relationship."
Baldwin attributes his personal success to his love of his family and his spiritual faith, according to The Insightful Player. "My faith is the backbone of everything I do in life. Like every human, I make mistakes, have my missteps, but always fall back on my faith. That's my foundation and the most important thing in my life, and it trickles down into every aspect of who I am."
